Every one of us knows where we got the bug. Maybe the automotive obsession started in a movie theater, watching Paul Walker and Vin Diesel shred tires in The Fast and the Furious. Maybe at home, playing Gran Turismo or Need for Speed. Or maybe the sight of incredible cars blasting by a single-speed Schwinn led to car magazines and bedroom wall posters and furious conversations about turbos and superchargers.
Personally, my love for automobiles probably grew naturally during a childhood in Los Angeles, entertaining myself for the long commutes to school in the San Fernando Valley by watching all the cars stuck in traffic and listening to the radio. But plenty of blame can surely be lain at the feet of my dad, who at last count currently owns seven roadgoing vehicles, plus a tractor, an excavator, and a road grader. And don't even ask about all the cars he never should have sold.
As a kid, Dad brought me to events like the LA Auto Show and the Beverly Hills Concours d'Elegance, where I saw my very first Viper in person, as well as on regular visits the Petersen Automotive Museum. We even borrowed a Jaguar XK-E 2+2 from one of his friends and I remember polishing it ad infinitum before heading down to a car show in which we actually took second place.
So it only seems predictable that this past Sunday, as the world reopens post-pandemic, I found myself invited to cover this year's Beverly Hills Tour d'Elegance—instead of a concours parked on Rodeo Drive this year, a parade that began with a gathering on the roof of the Petersen Automotive Museum's garage—and, no less, on Father's Day. So of course, with some of the world's best cars slated to join, I just had to request that my dad be allowed to join in on the fun, too.
Starting As Strong As It Gets
I invited Dad without revealing much of the day's docket, so the morning could not have started better than the sight of a 1962 Ferrari GTO—arguably the most gorgeous car ever built and certainly the most valuable—slowly backing out of a trailer as we circled the neighborhood looking for parking. By the time we parked and walked back, the GTO sat on the side of the road and next up, a Birdcage Maserati emerged from the hauler. Dad grew up watching Birdcage Maseratis (technically, in this case, a 1960 Typo 61) race in person at the old racetrack at the Santa Barbara Airport, but I'd never seen one before and he'd never seen a 250GTO firsthand, either. Surprisingly, even with the tiny tubular frame and race-inspired minimalism, the Mas was barely smaller than the GTO. But best of all, we got to hear both fire up and pull away, headed up the Petersen's corkscrew to the garage rooftop where the rest of the show slowly gathered.
Gathering Together Automotive Royalty
The sheer variety on display boggled the mind and I spent plenty of time identifying more cars I'd only ever seen in photographs. Every so often, every head in the growing crowd turned simultaneously at the sound of a new engine roaring up to the rooftop—from brand-new McLarens and Lamborghinis to the earliest Bentleys and Fiats to grace the roads of Europe, with everything in between including American cruisers and muscle cars, rare Porsches, lowriders, and even the one-of-one Lancia Stratos Zero concept (which looked like a nightmare to park but sounded surprisingly good despite, as far as I know, motivation coming behalf of a 1.4-liter V4 engine).
Anything That Looks Good On Parade
The turnout ran the gamut about as wide as any automotive assemblage I've ever seen. This being LA, Hollywood certainly made a starring appearance, with the Mad Max-inspired Bug and lifted Mustang seen above, plus the Chariot from the Lost in Space TV show, and plenty of celebrities on hand including Tori Spelling, Caitlyn Jenner, and Jeff Dunham. Automotive personalities also joined in on the fray, from IMSA GT Champion Tommy Kendall to Magnus Walker in one of his Urban Outlaw Porsche 911s and Matt Farah in his Countach (Farah even recognized me after I interviewed him at his Westside Collector Car Storage facility earlier this year, and I got to introduce him to my dad, who had in turn introduced me to Farah's One Take video series so many years ago).
Leno Might Be The Real Mayor Of Beverly Hills
Technically, this year's event received the name "Beverly Hills Tour d'Elegance" because it replaced the park-and-show Rodeo Drive Concours d'Elegance. Jay Leno made an appearance, driving a Hudson Hornet, and even gave a little speech before the drive, calling the morning's festivities "egalitarian" because no judging and competition would fit into the mix—something of a peculiar turn of phrase, though, given the appearance of so many seven and eight-figure automotive icons. But then again, some of the cars that showed up, like a Porsche 914 and a Volkswagen Bus, may remain somewhat accessible to the masses, even if the majority of models simply sit in the upper stratosphere of value, collectability, and rarity. At least these one-percenters do a good job of keeping their gorgeous cars in running shape so the rest of us can appreciate them, Dad and I kept reminding each other. And the event did raise funds to benefit two first-responder charities, to be fair.
Yep, This Must Be Hollywood
No Los Angeles car meet can be considered complete until a DeLorean decked out like a Time Machine from Back to the Future arrives and Father's Day on the roof of the Petersen Garage was no exception. But the spirit of traveling through time did stand out for me, as my own father pointed out cars that he'd idolized as a kid and asked me what some of the newcomers were. Then again, I got to explain the rarity of a Zagato-bodied Porsche 356 that he'd never heard of or laid eyes on, also.
Checking Out Some Tail
I find it hard to imagine a trio of cars that more accurately represents how far the car industry has come in nearly 150 years, since Karl Benz's Patent Motorcar took the first step in rendering horses obsolete, than the boattail Austin above parked next to the ludicrously long and low McLaren Speedtail, plus its track-only Senna GTR sibling on the other side. Designs of every automotive age, from hand-sketched to computer-rendered showed up, including an aggressive prototype of the newly revived De Tomaso brand's P72 supercar (sounding mean with an appropriately modern powerplant in the form of a supercharged Ford Coyote V8).
Time To Hit The Streets Of Beverly Hills
Eventually, the time came for all the cars joining the official Tour to form up down on Fairfax Avenue, where the stark contrasts somehow stood out even more. That's the De Tomaso above lined up behind what might just be the world's largest Fiat, a 28.5-liter inline-four-powered former top speed world record-holder with incredible design style thanks to ridgeback dragon-style wooden details and skull shift knobs to go along with all the brass trim and the chain-driven rear wheels.
The World's Most Valuable Bronco
One of the biggest surprises of the day came in the form of "Big Oly," the world's most expensive Bronco that recently sold for a whopping $1.87 million at the Mecum Auctions Indy 2021 event in May. Complete with Parnelli Jones livery hearkening back to its successful off-road racing career and owner, it sounded just as awesome as it looks—hard to say whether the classic Bentley or that Bronco takes the cake in the photo above.
Roaring Away And A Little Father's Day Bonus Inside The Petersen
Capturing all the incredible cars that showed up on the roof of the Petersen's garage in one article remains completely impossible but rest assured, when they all roared away to join the Father's Day parade through Beverly Hills, the sounds and sights stopped traffic (a police escort certainly helped, too). As a little bonus, the Petersen also invited guests to check out some of the exhibits inside, with the hoods of some other incredible cars lifted to reveal the powerplants underneath. I kept this part a little secret from Dad, since one of the promised cars included Steve McQueen's personal Jaguar XKSS, Dad's personal number-one favorite of all time. Dad grew up in Laurel Canyon in the 1950s and 1960s and used to run down the driveway every morning to watch McQueen four-wheel drift this exact Jag around the bend of Willow Glen Road on his way to the studio lots.
Next year, the Rodeo Drive Concours promises to return, though as great an attraction as iconic cars parked on such an iconic road seems (and it does allow for bigger crowds to attend and ignite more automotive fires in young kids like my former self), this year's unique Father's Day experience provided an incredible, indelible experience unlike anything in my many years of automotive obsession, which undoubtedly received a strong initial spark all those years ago checking out a new Dodge Viper parked on Rodeo Drive with my dad.
Sources: laautoshow.com, petersen.org, lovebeverlyhills.com, netsolhost.com, and mecum.com.